Types Of Computer Fraud, The Association It Has With A...

This essay will focus on describing three types of Computer Fraud, the association it has with a legalisation in UK and the effectiveness of each legalisations for prosecution. Each fraud mentioned are associated with the categories of fraud mentioned below. â€Å"They look upon fraud as a greater crime than theft† (Swift, 1838) Fraud is defined by Oxford English Dictionary as â€Å"the use of false representations to obtain an unjust advantage or to injure the rights or interests of another† (OED, 1956). Computers are an advanced aid for fraudsters to commit the act from great distances with the use of online resources. However, people can now use smartphones, ATM’s, credit/debit cards and emails, to commit fraud, thus, allowing easy access for individuals to perpetrate fraud or be exploited by it. A ‘Get Safe Online survey’ from the government included statistics indicating (All from Gov.uk, 2014): - 51% of 2000 occupants surveyed in Great Britain have dealt with online crime - Internet fraud has caused  £670 million lost during 2013-2014 - 47% of individuals do not know how to report computer fraud Action Fraud reports have shown (All from McGuire and Dowling, 2013): - 47,980 computer fraud cases were reported in 2012 - 39% of computer frauds reported were online shopping and auction frauds - Under 8% were reported to be computer software fraud Even though these statistics are from trusted sources, the figure may be higher for online fraud because of unreported or unknown